Domains are split into labels for query purposes. For example, “ example.com ” is split into “ example ” and “com”.
If provided in a query, “dot” separator characters (.) between labels are maintained to enable position-dependent domain searches.
This has the following results:
- Leading dot after the label, no trailing dot – Returns results for matching labels that are at the end of the domain name.
- Trailing dot after the label, no leading dot – Returns results for matching labels that are at the beginning of the domain name.
- Leading and trailing dots surrounding the label – Returns results for matching labels that are in the middle of the domain name (i.e., not the first or last label).
- Two labels with a dot between them – Treated as a search for the entire phrase, and so returns results for domains that include the entire string.
- No dot separators – Returns results for any domain that includes the query string anywhere in the domain name.
The following table provides examples of these different domain searches:
| Search |
If domain is example.com |
If domain is example.com.au |
|---|---|---|
| domain:com |
match |
match |
| domain:.com |
match |
no match |
| domain:.com. |
no match |
match |
| domain:com. |
no match |
no match |
| domain:example. |
match |
match |
| domain:example.com |
match |
no match |
